King of Swords 6-55

Discussion (106) ¬

Nay, ’tis a most apposite slip of the tongue. For if one has studied the sorry tale of Pree Aeshma deeply, one will see that no matter how deep a friendship, there exists a deeper revelation, which, should it be revealed, will shatter that friendship.

No, her orders were to have her body fed to the dogs outside the city. Dogs and jackals are different in ways that farmers and sword wielders are different, and the latter is unlikely to reside near a city, save perhaps if corpses are common at the perimeter.

… I could swear previously that Meti’s Sword Manual stated she took only one student…

Perhaps a transcription error? Or perhaps my memory is flawed. Probably the latter, for I am as forgetful as I am forgettable.

But I do agree that the sword is a poison. Tis why I greatly prefer the club and shield, and practice a few styles that specifically break swords (and sword wielders), but then alcohol is also a poison that is regularly consumed in small quantities. Life itself is a poison, and when you’ve consumed too much you die. Let the one who would call you master feed off the poison of the sword, at least you can teach this one to control their intake.

Meti may have only considered one of them a student. Incubus shaved his head. Incubus fed her dead body to the dogs like she said to. The pattern being laid out is that Incubus actually listens to Meti, while Maya fights back against what she says.
Maya may have just stuck around and tried to follow the lessons while Meti taught Incubus.

“my only apprentice is an idiot speck of a girl with more talent for eating than skill with the blade”
“My extreme hope is that some measure of wisdom will penetrate the thick skull of my apprentice. If not, may reading this manual demonstrate your powerful disinterest in it, and may its true value die with me.”

It does not appear that incubus is the one referred to as her Only Apprentice.

could it not be the white-haired sword master previously seen face off against the gunwitch?

there is also a panel where he says “all of you can stop following me” and the next panel is of the lady above, with the gem in her head shining. is that not foreshadowing of her following him as the student?

There are no words better spoken than these. One must be careful that he does not drink of life too deeply. Life is indeed terminal. The sword like any other poison must be taken in moderation with meditation and honing the mind.

But Maya would have them dead, and their thrones toppled with them! She has cut herself from the gods thinking her hatred so strong it could never be remitted. But she will never be free of them. That very hatred will pull her violently back into contact with them. There is hope she will choose the easy way, but, one way or another this division will be healed.

Alternatively she may have written the manual before Incubus came around. She constantly disparages Maya in the flashbacks and we see the same attitude towards her student in the manual. Maya is also quite an adult by the time Incubus comes around.

There are no words better spoken than these. One must be careful that he does not drink of life too deeply. Life is indeed terminal. The sword like any other poison must be taken in moderation with meditation and honing the mind.

Sorry I gotta butt in and say the loose hairs framing her face in the last couple panels are such a neat detail and I love it. a lot of people don’t bother with that kind of thing (mostly because it takes time) but also because they’re not used to drawing kinkier and more natural hair grades and that’s just such a cool thing to see, so uh? thanks!

The Hegemonic Prince of Moths; Savala Thun, Grand Duke of the Night District, Guild Master of the Opaline, Blood Royal of House Thun, First Facet of the Ma’grēti Dynasty and Sovereign of the Endless Dream

To have an apprentice is to admit inevitable defeat. The act of teaching is dangerous because it gives those being taught the desire to surpass and discard. Personally, I would much rather leave my subordinates questioning everything. The only one I teach is myself.

If you would teach yourself, what do you do with those selves you have surpassed?

If you must have your ‘self’, then it is better by far to destroy that which you have surpassed.

To discard an old self is to leave it for others to take.

The Hegemonic Prince of Moths; Savala Thun, Grand Duke of the Night District, Guild Master of the Opaline, Blood Royal of House Thun, First Facet of the Ma’grēti Dynasty and Sovereign of the Endless Dream

The Hegemonic Prince of Moths; Savala Thun, Grand Duke of the Night District, Guild Master of the Opaline, Blood Royal of House Thun, First Facet of the Ma’grēti Dynasty and Sovereign of the Endless Dream

Speaking of which, what size are the windows in your eyries? Your successors will no doubt want to redecorate once they find your corpse within, entombed at the height of your own power and terror of being shaped by another both, and it pays to have the appropriate lengths of material on hand ahead of time.

Still, it’s interesting that Incubus seems to have earnestly followed her desires while Maya rebuked her at every turn, by Maya seems to have gotten the credit as the true heir while Incubus, as per usual, is seen as an Usurper. It makes me wonder how many of his accolades he’s actually earned.

Just saying, I know he looks like Incubus, acts like Incubus and all that, but this somehow doesn’t seem to fit with all the disrespect Incubus keeps getting. Could this guy she is talking about be Incubus Father? If they left each other after an argument…Like how to treat a dead master…why should Meti give him anything? But a son of them both would make for someone to inherit a key, and someone who has not earned it, so can be disrespected.

Love the Temple setting, the view, the Effigy, bell, and winding flowering tree.
If Maya did not leave Throne after the fall of the Fortress of Yre, then she’s visiting a part of the Red City we’ve not seen before. Where is this ?
Somewhere there is a mountainside where one may find temples built to honor the gods and perhaps Ascended Masters / Immortals.

This is stupid, Incubus is having self respect issues because the other demiurges said he doesn’t actually belong on The Seven, instead of Maya. Meanwhile he was the first one who Meti Ten Ryo acknowledged as a student for his will before Maya. Maya doesn’t even covet the throne it seems, and instead pass it on to him, and as a fellow disciple of Meti, and not to mention her first student, he should be confident enough that he can back up his claim to that throne, Instead of having a hissy fit when the others mock him for it.

He’s not going to be any better of a student than Maya *and* he’s going to kill her *and* he’s going to achieve his position (which Maya won by force) by tricking Maya and or some other unimpressive means. We don’t know how any of these things will happen but nothing here contradicts or even strains at known events.

Consider, young pree, that by that word are hearths made cold and cities emptied- armies felled, and kings toppled. By Should are legends forged, and tyrants cast down, that new tyrants might be raised up in their places. In Should you behold the harbinger of that most dread of blades, the Blade of Want, whose remit is Separation, and against whom no bulwark can stand.

And yet, for all that potency, Should ever remains the sullen, furious shadow of her hated sister.

Is.

Do not seek to outrun the Grand Enemy, my lovely Pree. You will find she has always beats you to your destination.

Yes, yes very astute inputs, fellow observers. I guess my frustrations against such archetypes begat from similar observations across other realities, universes and stories, rooting some personages from advancement due to the circumstances. I guess we should just see where this one takes us.

Also: Mammon killed his family, and Nadia Om killed her husband (who was likely her mentor, too). There very well might be similar stories for Jadis, Gog-Agog, and Jagganoth. One does not get to the top without being rather murderous.

There have been hints that White Chains duty to 2-Michael will come into conflict with her friendship with Allison. (KOS 3-33). If so, then it is possible that the pattern you cite will continue and Allison will kill her mentor White Chain, probably with White Chains blessing.

Alternatively, White Chain might kill her mentor 2-Michael but considering how lawful she is, that is less likely.

If Allison manage to prove that she is indeed Kill Six Billion Demons, rightful heir to the throne of Zoss, White Chain could be persuaded that 2-Michael is wrong and must be disobeyed. It would be quite surprising, but not impossible.

Wait this fool may be massively misremembering but didn’t the old master wish for her body to be thrown away and fed to dogs? Seems to me incubus did what she wanted him to do and this one is so to attached to her dead master. But then again very few students with actual talent can stand their master dying or being killed.

Her eyes have become different, one is the original brown color(though not clear to see) while the other eye is red, the same as Incubus. Which also gives a reason for her to use her hair to hide the left side of her face, in case she opens her left eye at inopportune times.

Such is where the path of the Sword ends, and why one may need to find other paths once you see the end in sight. If incubus saw this end, he likely must see a new path to take. Whether it’s a Word of Power, a Key, a Disciple, or a title other’s strive for. A path exists as long as people walk it.

Which makes the matter of Throne a dangerous gamble. What path awaits if war breaks? Will a path exist beyond Death or defeat? What’s next?

Interesting to note– Maya’s eyes flash Incubus’s red when she mentions her hate for him. Maybe he put it there? Or alternatively, he tried to make her forget by putting inspiration in there, and Maya converts it to rage.